This Sunday on WYFF 4, Dateline gives us a rare look into the lives of drug dealers in South Carolina who are given the chance to change with the help of a community and law enforcement.

News 4's Parul Joshi talked one-on-one with the man who started the program, U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina, Bill Nettles.

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Nettles wanted to crack down on drug crimes in North Charleston, a city, he said, that at the time was known as the country's seventh-deadliest.

His goal in one neighborhood in 2011 was to stop what he calls the most toxic drug crime of all: open-air drug dealing.

"Children see it, and it's a blatant disregard to laws, and it degrades the quality of life to the people that live in that community,” Nettles explained.

But Nettles wanted an alternative to arresting criminals and sending them to prison on the taxpayer's dime.

So he came up with STAND, short for Stop and Take A New Direction.

He called on community agencies, churches, state and federal groups to show the drug dealers they could change.

“Y’all are poisoning the community. You man up right now and be responsible for the first time in your life, make your family proud, make yourself proud, get a piece of paper with your name on it. I worked for that check, that's how I got it. I worked for it,

Two North Charleston Police Department detectives, Charity Prosser and her partner, Jamel Foster, played a key role.

“They decided that I was going to lead the STAND program, and the first instinct I had was to hang up. I told them I’m not a social worker, I’m a cop,” Prosser said.

From makeovers, to class to work, Nettles said the program made a difference, with four out of eight participants graduating.

“They no longer are drug dealers. They're now working, they get a paycheck, they pay taxes, they're responsible members of society,” Nettles explained.

Nettles said he plans to bring STAND to the Upstate. Nettles said the program did not require any funding or the creation of additional agencies.

To see more on how STAND works in North Charleston, remember to tune in this Sunday to Dateline here on WYFF at 7 p.m.